“I’ve run out of things to say,” he mumbled to himself. “I have nothing more to offer. That’s it. I’m done.”
“But what about, um —” his friend offered.
“Nope. I already said that.”
“Have you ever —”
“Yep, I have. Dozens of times.”
“You could rephrase and paraphrase …”
“Been there, done that. A thousand times.”
“Could you find a new adventure?”
“Still working on the first one. Crickets.”
“Try something outrageous?”
“Not really me.”
His friend made a thoughtful face and said, “I don’t know what to tell you.”
“My point exactly,” he said. “It’s time to quit.”
“No, you can’t quit. Then the terrorists win.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing, just a leftover line from an old war.”
“Yeah, and we’re all tired of war,” he said.
“Are we, though? Maybe that’s it — you should declare war on something.”
“Come on. Everyone is tired of fighting.”
“But they don’t stop fighting anyway, don’t they?”
He stared at the horizon for a long time, then shrugged at his friend.
“No. But I will. I’m done.”
He picked up the remote and turned off the TV.
From the window they heard birds chattering, raising a cacophony of sound. A soft breeze rustled the branches. Cars passed on the street. The quiet was filled with diverse sound.
“Everybody says they want world peace, but nobody wants to do the heavy lifting,” he said. “And what would peace makers and peace keepers do with themselves if we all stopped fighting?”
“There’s always a place for peace makers,” his friend said.
“But no one listens to them,” he said. “That’s my point. I’ve tried everything.”
“Then start repeating yourself,” said his friend. “Surely someone will hear the next time.”
“Do you think?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s always worth a try.”
Two blue jays faced off over who gets the bird feeder next.
“I’m tired,” he said.
“Take a nap,” said his friend. “It’ll all be waiting for you when you wake up, and you’ll have a fresh perspective.”
“I don’t think so. Remember the part where I said I have nothing more to say?”
“Let’s see if you still believe that when you wake up.”
He closed his eyes. Everything he had ever said or written whirled through his head. It was all the same.
But he slept anyway, and when he roused from his nap, something had changed.
